Syrian farmers demand state intervention as militias seize borderlands

RABLEH, Syria — At dawn, the terraces of this once-prosperous farming village lie eerily silent. In a petition delivered to Daramsuq (Damascus) in May 2025, 110 families from Rableh — a village known for its peaceful coexistence among Christians and Muslims and its proximity to the shrine of the prophet St. Elijah — accused armed factions from neighboring Arsal, Lebanon, of orchestrating a “ghasb bayyin” (a “blatant usurpation”) that has stripped them of roughly 4,000 dunams (4 million m²) of their ancestral fields, carted off tractors and livestock under rifle threat, and left local agriculture in ruins.  

“By nightfall they’d driven off our sheep, stolen our solar panels and pumps,” recalls Mahmoud Youssef, whose pistachio orchards were among the first targeted. “Now our barns stand empty, our pride shattered.”  

Plea for Restitution and Security   

The Rableh petition sets out two urgent demands. First, villagers insist that Syrian authorities expel all Arsal-based occupants from the disputed tracts, restore property titles to rightful heirs, and compensate each household for stolen crops, equipment, and livestock — losses they estimate at more than $1.5 million. Second, they call for a permanent security presence: fixed army outposts and police checkpoints along the exposed border corridor, stretching from the Deir Mar Elias monastery eastward to the Arsal highlands, to stem smuggling and deter further incursions.  

Long before these modern disputes, Rableh’s history stretched back millennia. Data from Syria’s Central Bureau of Statistics put its population at 5,328 in the 2004 census, predominantly Melkite Greek Catholics. Archaeologists identify a hill on the village’s outskirts as the site of biblical Riblah (Numbers 34:11), where prophetic judgments were pronounced, and Roman inscriptions attest that the settlement once bore the name Daphne.  

“Without permanent checkpoints, no promise of patrols will protect us,” says Fatima Darwish, whose peach groves lay fallow after repeated raids. “We cannot bear another harvest season stolen at gunpoint.”

A Porous Frontier  

The contested lands lie in what villagers and analysts call a “border pocket” — a narrow strip along the Anti-Lebanon mountain range where Lebanon’s rugged Arsal district meets Syria’s eastern villages. For decades, Arsal’s steep ridges and winding tracks have frustrated full state control, turning the area into a conduit for smugglers trafficking arms, narcotics and, at times, militants.  

In early March 2025, the frontier’s fragility was laid bare when Syrian troops and Lebanese forces — including Hezbollah fighters — exchanged fire near Hawsh al-Sayyid Ali after Syrian authorities blamed a cross-border raid on Hezbollah. The five-day clash left scores dead or wounded before a ceasefire was reached on 17 March, exposing how swiftly lawlessness can engulf this boundary  

Skepticism and Regional Stakes   

Last month, the Syrian Government vowed to dispatch border guards and army units “to defend national sovereignty and restore villagers’ rights.” Yet many in Rableh remain unconvinced. “Short-term deployments cannot substitute for a lasting presence,” warns security analyst Samir al-Masri. “If farmers lose faith in state protection, they may seek out local militias — further fracturing an already fragile border region.”  

Lebanon’s government denies sanctioning the land seizures. “We condemn any violation of Syrian territory,” a Defense Ministry spokesman said, noting that Lebanese forces battle bandit networks in Arsal but cannot police every mountain trail.

Difficult Decade

The past decade has been difficult for the Christian community of Rableh. In September 2012, a group of 150 Melkite Greek Catholic villagers — workers and farmers, including men, women, and youth — were abducted while harvesting apples. Witnesses described chaotic scenes of gunfire, abandoned apple crates, and multiple vehicles taking captives away from the fields.

The situation worsened the following day, with an additional 130 civilians from Rableh abducted, bringing the total number of hostages to 280. The captives were reportedly held in a local school, with kidnappers releasing some women while awaiting orders from their leader to discuss ransom demands. Fear escalated within the community as reports emerged of other kidnapped Christians in the area being found murdered.

Then Patriarch of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church Gregory III Laham emphasized that these events were not solely acts of religious persecution but also attempts to incite sectarian division and civil war. According to the Patriarch, the goal of the kidnappers may have been to exploit religious identities to exacerbate tensions between various groups in the region. This sentiment was echoed by local religious leaders and peace committees who sought dialogue and non-violent resolutions amidst the chaos.

Efforts by religious and community leaders ultimately yielded some hope and within days, the hostages were released.

An Uncertain Harvest  

As dusk settles over Rableh, villagers keep watch from stone terraces, rifles at their side and petitions clutched in their hands. Their rallying cry — “Long live a free, proud Syria” — echoes across abandoned fields. Yet for these farming families, freedom now hinges on whether the Syrian government will tighten its grip on the border or continue to cede ground to armed traffickers. Without decisive action, the gentle slopes of this frontier risk becoming the flashpoint of a wider regional conflagration.